DEVELOPER TRIMS HIGHLANDS PROJECT, BUT OPPOSITION REMAINS

Revisions not enough to appease critics’ concerns

With the San Marcos Planning Commission and City Council scheduled to vote next month on a controversial subdivision proposed for open space at the city’s northern edge, the developer has agreed to trim the number of homes from 198 to less than 190.

The developer, 74-year-old Farouk Kubba, has also agreed to help pay for extra lanes at the nearby state Route 78/Las Posas Road freeway interchange and shrink the “footprint” of the project to preserve more open space.

Those changes haven’t been enough, however, to appease an ardent group of Santa Fe Hills residents living directly south of the 262-acre project, which would be near Twin Oaks Golf Course and Walnut Grove Park.

Dozens of residents are expected to testify against the San Marcos Highlands development during a Planning Commission forum scheduled for Dec. 16.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the development on Jan. 6, and, if approved, the council would consider it Jan. 28.

Nearly 500 residents have signed a petition against the project and many are sending in negative comments before an environmental review that ends Thursday.

The group has also ordered 100 yard signs opposing the project.

“We’re on fire and we’re totally mobilizing,” said resident Kevin Mecum, adding that the developer doesn’t seem to care what the community thinks. “The changes they are making are only what they have to do, not a reaction to complaints or suggestions from us.”

The residents say the new homes would destroy a beautiful wildlife area and worsen traffic congestion. They also say the project will be out of character with the area because the developer has clustered the homes tightly together to reduce damage to the environment.

“They keep shrinking the footprint to avoid destroying habitat and open space,” said resident Richard Borevitz, calling the new plan a “cookie cutter” project.

County officials have also complained that the project would have more houses than zoning would allow. The developer plans to solve that problem by annexing into the city the 70 acres of the project that lay within the county.

In addition, the development’s impact on local public schools has created turbulence.

San Marcos Highlands would be split roughly evenly between the Vista Unified and San Marcos Unified school districts, and officials from both districts say the project could worsen overcrowding on some campuses.

The council voted against a larger version of the project seven years ago, but significant turnover has made the council more pro-development since then. Council members have declined to take positions on the project this year.

Assistant City Manager Lydia Romero said the project’s progress through the approval pipeline doesn’t mean city staff has endorsed it. However, Romero said San Marcos Highlands does comply with the city’s general plan and has been on maps of the area since the 1980s.

“It’s always been expected to be part of what we call Santa Fe Hills,” she said.

Jim and Jason Simmons, local consultants working for the developer, said the recent reduction in homes was a reaction to community complaints.

“We’ve been listening to the public and their concerns,” Jim Simmons said, adding that more than 83 percent of the project will be open space. “This will have the most open space of any project in the county.”

He said the number of units would be less than 190, but declined to provide a specific number. Residents say they’ve heard both 185 and 189.

Jason Simmons said nearby schools have enough capacity and that the developer has proposed putting the entire project in San Marcos Unified because it would be more convenient for residents.

Jim Simmons said the primary complaint from residents has been traffic congestion and the project’s extension of Las Posas Road.

Residents have said extending Las Posas into San Marcos Highlands would be a key first step toward connecting that road to Buena Creek Road — a link that could flood Santa Fe Hills with more traffic.

But Simmons said part of the San Marcos Highlands project is restoring riparian habitat on acreage that a Las Posas connection to Buena Creek would pass through, making approval for such an extension more difficult.